


Inheritance

by BunniesofDoom



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Introspection, Spring Maiden Yang Xiao Long
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:21:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29547168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BunniesofDoom/pseuds/BunniesofDoom
Summary: Yang wishes that she knew how she was supposed to feel about this.
Relationships: Raven Branwen & Yang Xiao Long
Kudos: 33





	Inheritance

Yang wishes that she knew how she was supposed to feel about this.

She hadn't seen Raven die with her own eyes; the battle had been tense, and she'd been too busy fighting Grimm to pay attention to anything besides her own immediate surroundings. But when it had happened, she'd felt it immediately. The transfer of power from one host to the next in line.

That she now possessed the power of the Spring Maiden.

Talking to her father afterwards just confirmed what Yang already knew deep in her bones: Raven had been struck down in battle. Yang doesn't know how she should feel about her mother's death, or the fact that she apparently had been in her mother's last thoughts. She supposes she should feel upset about what happened, grieve her mother's death, but if she's being honest, she doesn't, really, it's not like she and Raven were ever that close. The few times she'd ever interacted with her mother hadn't been ideal.

True, when Raven had joined them in Atlas to help fight off Salem's forces she'd apologized once again, telling Yang that she was trying to do better. It was a nice gesture, but it's not like Yang had ever really gotten to know her mother all that well.

And now she never will.

At that thought, her eyes begin to sting a bit, and she swipes furiously at them until the tears recede. She doesn't want to be a sobbing mess over this, the mom she only really knew from her dad's stories and the few times they'd met. But a part of her can't help but feel empty at the lost potential.

And then there's the matter of what to do next. Where should she go from here?

The question gives Yang pause. She's been given power, great, unimaginable power. Power that people would kill for—have killed for before, many times. She'd never thought that something like this would fall into her lap. She'd never asked for anything like this.

She's never really been the type to go after power. Sure, Yang took pride in her strength, but being powerful and being strong aren't necessarily the same thing. Her mom had nicely illustrated that point. She might have been powerful, but she wasn't strong at all.

Growing up, Yang had never really been sure what she wanted. Sure, she'd planned to become a huntress, but she could never quite put her finger on why; unlike Ruby, who'd been trying to save people and make things better since before she could talk. She fondly remembers her little sister babbling endlessly and showing off her scribbles whenever Yang or her father were upset to try to cheer them up.

For a while she would say that she was just a thrill-seeker, that she just wanted to see the world and if she happened to do some good along the way, that was all the better. But deep down, she knew that that wasn't it. So, what did she actually want? She wanted to track down her mother, get her questions answered, find out why she'd left them all those years ago. But that's just one thing she wanted. It's not really a life plan in any real sense.

But somewhere along the line, during those agonizing days, of getting back on her feet after losing her arm, she thinks that maybe her purpose, what she wants to do in life, could be as simple as protecting the people she cares about. It's what she's been doing since her mother placed a little bundle of blankets containing her little sister in her arms, since her mother disappeared, leaving her father distraught and Yang to raise a little girl despite being a child herself. It's why she flings herself between Ruby and that Grimm when it interrupts their training session without a second thought. It's why she attacks Adam when she sees him standing over Blake. It's why it hurts so much when Ruby leaves for Mistral—her sister is out there throwing herself into danger without Yang to back her up. Protecting people is what Yang does best. It's practically in her blood at this point.

It seems only right that she should use her new power to continue doing what she's best at.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please comment and leave kudos if you liked it.
> 
> Just a reminder that I do take requests for fics, so if there's an idea that you'd like to see me write, feel free to message me and if I like it, I might end up writing something for it. Also, if you like one of my ideas and want to write your own fic for it, feel free! I'm not possessive with my ideas, and most of my writing is self-indulgent anyway, so all that I ask is that you let me know so I can read it.


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